Samsaran
by thousandyearflower
Summary: A pebble dropped in a lake would cause a serious of ripples that continues to disturb the surface long after the pebble has sunk: the birth of the Singularity has caused a similar reaction in the Rukh. No one had counted on King Sinbad's birth, it's a singularity after all. But a Kou princess? Gyokuen was very, very pleased. ON HAITUS [until more time opens up in my schedule]
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Plot bunny attack!**

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The screech of brakes was surprisingly loud in her ears. The sight of Luke lurching to his feet on the road opposite, knocking over his chair was the last she remembered as she felt the impact – one that drove all the air from her lungs and seemed to rattle her very bones.

The last thing she registered was the overwhelming amount of _pain— _then, nothing.

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Voices reached her, and she was suddenly aware. She had no way to gauge her period of unconsciousness, only a sense that it had been a long, long time.

A voice was sobbing, and an older one was comforting him softly. Others were conversing discreetly, and a stab of uncertainty hit her when she realized, it was not English, _but she understood it anyway_.

Her hand twitched involuntarily.

The voices hushed, and one close to her ear rose.

"Koujaku-nee?" **(1)**

Something soft and silky brushed across her face.

With a startle she was awake, and disoriented from the memory and sensation of the crash, her vision swam for a few seconds.

When the world righted itself, Koujaku saw that the room she was in was poorly lighted, the drapes across the wide windows drawn half shut. The air was musky and the furnishings were oriental, from the folding screen in one corner of the room to the dressing table to the tables and chairs. The bed she was on was a grand redwood four-poster complete with an elegant bedside table, and in one corner of the room there stood an instrument that she had only read about in her course studies – a guzheng.

But once the haze on her mind cleared, she shot upright, not hearing the startled squeak from the boy hanging off the edge of her bed and looked around, really looked, for Luke. He has to be here, he has to be.

But he was not, and her posture sagged.

There was a tug on her sleeves, and she looked down.

The boy, from the tousled hair and puffy cheeks, had been sleeping with his head on the bed. He had grasped her sleeve with both his hands, and was staring up at her with teary eyes.

"Nee-san?"

She blinked down at him, uncomprehending.

Who is he?

At her silence, the others pressed in worriedly.

"Koujaku?" said another male, his black feather fan covering his worried frown.

"Koujaku-onee-sama?" said a girl with rose pink hair, orchid orbs shining with worry.

Behind them a red-haired man with a goatee sat on a chair with a tight-knit brow and imposing glare, his red eyes never leaving her. A lady with drawn-back black hair watched on silently.

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There is something very wrong with Koujaku, Hakuei thought as her three cousins swarmed the girl. Did _it_ happen again?

Koujaku had been complaining about headaches recently, and when she went to sleep three days ago she simply didn't wake up. Nothing woke her, and after the second day Kouha refused to leave her bedside. The others had taken turns accompanying him, and the reason they were all gathered there (with the exception of Hakuryuu, he had lessons) that day was Koujaku's sudden convulsions. Spasms racked her body, her red hair clinging to her neck and face from sweat. She had then shuddered violently and went still. They had feared the worst.

Right now though, Koujaku looked absolutely lost as Kouha fussed over her, blinking in confusion at Koumei's string of questions.

Then, as Kouha reached to pull her into a hug, she leaned back from his hands and stared at him as though he was a stranger.

Hurt and confused, Kouha sat back and fell silent.

"Who…are you?" said Koujaku, slowly and tentatively, as though testing her own voice. She brought up a hand to cradle her head and her eyes flicked around to stare at all of them in turn, taking in their various degrees of shock.

There was a beat of silence.

Koumei lowered his fan slowly.

"What?" said Kouha eventually, staring at his sister, "What do you mean, you don't…? But, you're—but Koujaku, you know me!" At the bewildered look on his sister's face he seemed about to cry again.

Kouen rose from his seat and started to walk to the bed.

His hand moved to the hilt of his sword that's always hanging off his belt and as he drew it, Koumei and Hakuei leaped at the same time: one to cover Koujaku's eyes and one to stop the sword from leaving its sheath.

"En!"

"Kouen-dono!"

"At least explain it to her first!" Koumei said with a sigh. "What will she think, her own brother brandishing a sword at her?"

"She said it, she doesn't remember anything yet," Hakuei exclaimed, "You can't use Phenex, Kouen-dono!"

With a tsp, Kouen dropped his hand from his sword and stood awkwardly where he was, staring out the window.

Koumei released Koujaku, who stared, shaken, at Kouen, a sort of recognition in her red eyes. Hakuei approached the bed cautiously, while Kouha leaned into the bed and curled into a ball.

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She was freaked, but she hid it well.

Who wouldn't be, waking up after a car crash to a room of strangers looking like they walked out of a costume drama shoot.

Her head hurt. Names popped in her head, jumbled and without a face to match.

_(Kouha, Koumei, Kouen, Kougyoku, Hakuei, Kourin, Hakuryuu, Hakuren, Hakuyuu, Gyokuen, Hakutoku-tei, Koutoku-tei, Judar, Glasya Labolas, Gyokuen-dono)_

Luke's startled and semi-horrified face flashed through her mind, she seemed unable to remember anything other than the crash. Then her head gave a sudden throb and, with the force of the truck, a horrible squeezing pain grasped her and she doubled over, gasping for air.

She must have cried out because the next moment she felt suffocated by the presences.

Her ears were ringing harshly, everything was tinged with black, then just as suddenly, the (_phantom_) pain was gone, and when she looked up, she recognised the room and the inhabitants, and realised that _it _had happened again.

Kouha was hovering over her, hands wringing the air with desperation, but not daring to reach out and touch. She realised she was curled into a ball and made a conscious effort to relax.

"Kou..ha? What's happened?" Koujaku looked to her brother, fully aware of how weird she sounded.

The periods of amnesia after a vision (and the vision itself) where she lived the last moments (or periods in their life like what she just had — something called a 'university course') of somebody else had been increasing, with their memories following her, jumbling her memories and causing her family worry. It had become harder and harder to grasp onto her version of reality, and convince herself she had not been in a fatal situation. Recent nightmares, as she had come to dub them, had her disoriented and not knowing who she was.

Kouha let out a whoop of joy and hugged her tight, behind him Koumei let out his breath in a whoosh, bringing his fan up to hide his face. Kouen relaxed visibly and went back to his chair (no _her _chair, this was _her _room) and Kougyoku smiled brilliantly. Hakuei sat on the bed and patted Koujaku's hand comfortingly.

"What was it this time?" Koumei asked at length.

Kouha had nestled himself between her and the bed frame, combing his fingers through her messy red hair and putting it back up into its usual style, humming tunelessly.

"A…a girl, around my age, attending lessons in a school. I sort of _lived _her life for…a few years? then one day she just," Koujaku swallowed thickly before continuing, "_died_. Violently."

Koumei winced, "and you lived through that?"

Kouha poked his head in her vision.

"Yes."

"Ow," he supplied, pricking the back of her head with her golden hair pin.

Koujaku gave him a mild glare.

Kouha patted her head and hugged her again, "At least you're back now."

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Judar watched the flurry of black rukh depart from atop Koujaku's chambers and wondered once more what the _heck _do they want with the girl. What importance does she have? Sure, the 25th djinn Glasya-Labolas had a unique ability, even for djinn, and the girl conquered him, but she's part of the Kou Empire so doesn't those old men from the Organization have absolute control over someone like her?

_Maa, ika, _he thought idly, staring up at the evening sky from his recline on the roof. **(2)**

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The nightmares, they're becoming a problem for Koujaku Ren.

They have always been there, like a particularly clingy shadow no light could erase. From young, she remembered living portions of other people's lives, returning to her world disorientated and confused nine times out of ten. Back then, the visions hit her whenever they liked, however they liked. She could be playing with Kouha, and she just dropped like a rock; she could be sewing with her tutors, and she just slumped, the needle puncturing where it went; she could be playing on her guzheng, and the sound stopped, then Koumei or her servants comes rushing in to find her collapsed on the floor. It got better with age, yet worse. When she was younger she just blacked out, getting flashes, never really living till their deaths, so her uncanny connection to the dead was not yet revealed. She wakes up a little dizzy, nothing more. As she got older, the vision decreased, but their intensity increased in sick inverse proportion.

First, she watched the deaths, waking up pale and shaken, then she started experiencing them. The pain, the terror, the helplessness. All those came with death. After extra bad visions during her early teenage years — where her persona died horrible, vicious deaths like chopped at the guillotine, bashed to death, burned at the stake — she half expected to see the fatal wounds on her body when she looked in her mirror.

Then, she started experiencing the feelings, having the thoughts of her visions. The deaths came, still, unnatural and jarring, all the more unbearable.

After that. she started to _retain _the memories of the personas, and things just spiralled downwards. She would wake up, much like how it had turned out earlier that evening, not sure of who she was (whether she was Koujaku Ren, Second Imperial Princess of the Kou Empire or Julia or Elizabeth or Lieselotte or whoever she was at that time), phantom pain tingling in her senses as she tried to make sense of the familiar-yet-foreign situation of her room, and the time lapses are getting longer. She's also starting to channel some of the personality of the dead, like her sudden craving for sweets, she never had a sweet tooth before then.

Adding to the increasing duration she was out, she was an open target. One stabbed-to-death vision and one traitorous backstabbing servant and a _very _close call later she dismissed all her current servants and trusted only her siblings. Kouha became so paranoid he camped out in her room for a month.

The only upside was she didn't get them as frequently.

It was no wonder she was so thin and pale, and conquering a dungeon was a miracle in and of itself. But Judar seems to take a liking to her, and rose the 25th dungeon for her, even going to the length of finding a teacher in swordsmanship for her and somehow managing to drag Kouen away from his archives to spar with her, once a week.

Her trip to the 25th dudgeon was a passive one, with Koumei lazily teleporting anything of harm away from the group as they advanced, the most dangerous thing they countered being leeches. Glasya-Labolas was a different matter.

He had great black wings as wide as he was tall, golden eyes with pitch black iris, strangely dog-like face, yet still handsome. His jewellery glittered whenever he turned, necklaces and bracelets tinkling as he surveyed Koumei and Koujaku and their followers.

"Who shall be king?" he boomed, wings flaring a bit as he studied one Ren after the other. He saw Koujaku, scrutinised for a while, and did a double-take.

"Let Koujaku, I'm not interested," said Koumei with a yawn, dispersing his equip, ignoring the djinn.

"Give it to Koumei-nii, I'm not aiming for King," said Koujaku, wondering about the djinn's reaction.

Glasya-Labolas looked stunned, then chuckled, "One would see the familial similarity immediately. A pair of demotivated kings. Hmmm. I think I'll take the girl, Dantalion is a lazy ass I do not feel like working with, plus she's an interesting one." He chuckled again, turning to face Koujaku and grinned. "Little girl, lucky day. I look forward to working with you~," and slipped into her purple bracelet.

"Koujaku, grab what you want and let's go," Koumei went off rounding up soldiers, who were expecting a bit more of a fight.

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A few years back Hakutoku-tei died, making her the Second Imperial Princess, there was sudden explosion of visions when Gyokuen became her father's wife, where she lay miserably in bed for a week, headaches and fever and phantom pain and very real trauma attacking her senses.

Interestingly, Gyokuen-dono stood up for her whenever Koutoku-tei thought of marrying her off, spinning some kind of lie about her usefulness to the Empire being better unmarried and a general than married off to some distant place where no one could care for her when another of her episodes happened — like Koujaku believed half of that shit. Her sisters (whom she was not close to, thank you very much) was all married away at the tender age of 12, leaving her the lonesome girl in the palace, with the occasional _very shy _glance Kougyoku sent her, and a sister Hakuei who was very busy with military work.

So, Koujaku busied herself with history from Kouen, playing and training with Kouha, studying strategy with Koumei, researching about her odd visions whenever she could. When she turned 15, a remarkable age to still remain unmarried (Hakuei aside, Koujaku has seen the looks Kouen gives the girl), she was made general, and had significantly less time to wander around playing hide-and-seek with Kouha.

Then one day, Judar pops up, offering to train her for Full-Body Djinn Equip. That time Kouen only two djinns, Koumei didn't care shit about his Dantalion but he could do it, Hakuei couldn't do it with Paimon, Kouha didn't have Leraje yet and Kougyoku still a missable smudge along the corridor. But she accepted, thinking maybe Glasya-Labolas would help her with her vision problem. Judar feigned cluelessness whenever she brought it up, and whenever she and Gyokuen-dono crossed paths the latter would smile with that unnerving smile, causing her to suspect the Organization knows something.

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**(1) ****_Koujaku _****— ****红雀****, chinese read as HongQue, english meaning is 'Red Peacock'. Doesn't break the Kou family tradition. And yes, I did get the name from DMMD Koujaku~**

**(2) ****_Maa, ika — _****Hmm, whatever**

**So…background established. Now onto the real hard part of characterisation. I hope it made the hints clear enough. She's not going to be a Mary Sue though, so don't worry.**

**Tell me how you guys feel? ^^**

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_**flower**_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: *insert Disclaimer*. Koujaku is about six years or so older than Kouha, and they have the same mother. I just changed 'two months' to 'a few months' because I realised no matter how fast the horse, there's no way a caravan trip of more than a year can be managed under a month. So yeah.**

**Enjoy~**

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Two days later found Kouen walking back from yet another tiring war council, scroll in hand, muttering technicalities to himself and gesturing animatedly with his hands.

As he passed one of the gardens, music drifted into his ears. He paused.

The peach trees (courtesy of Judar) were in blossom and the pretty pinkness of the garden reminded him of Hakuei. Banishing the thought from his mind, he stepped into the garden.

Past the pink peach trees he walked, past the flower beds to the koi pond, and there on the red wooden bridge sat his sister Koujaku, playing her guzheng. The sound of the zither washed over him like a waterfall as she progressed into the more intricate phrases and her fingers glided across the strings. Sometimes Kouen was proud not only of his siblings' fighting skills, but also their other miscellaneous skills, though not so much of Hakuei's cooking or Koumei's somnolency.

The last note quivered as it hang in the air, the player not dropping her stance till the sound faded. Applause rose and Koujaku looked up, saw Kouen and smiled.

"How was the council?"

Koujaku was also a general, but since she was due for the Tenzen Plateau with Hakuei in a week, she and the First Imperial Princess was exempted from the recent councils.

Kouen groaned. "As boring as usual, if even more so," he ran a hand through his hair, and started to walk to her.

"Really? I was under the impression you were organising increasingly interesting invasions," grinned the redhead, starting to tape small black plectra onto her left hand. **(1)**

Choosing to ignore her comment, Kouen placed a hand on the wooden instrument and said, "I haven't heard that piece before, where did you learn it?"

"Interestingly enough, I learnt this from _them,_" said Koujaku with a hum, testing out her left hand on the strings, causing a cascade of notes.

"Oh? They have such things too?" asked Kouen, interested. Koujaku never went into much detail about her visions that have been increasing as of late, and hearing her talk about them was fascinating, an insight into a whole new world. But because her visions usually ended with painful, unnatural deaths he and Koumei didn't particularly pester her on the subject.

He also had the nagging suspicion she was not telling them something.

"That one was long," Koujaku mused, settling into a stance, "she studied this instrument in her school. The instruments there was much like our own, along with the food."

"Speaking of food, I think Kouha's looking for you," Kouen suddenly said.

"Kouha?" the princess turned to her eldest brother, hands pausing. "For lunch?"

"Yes, you'd better find him, last I saw he was looking into vases for you," said Kouen with a smirk.

"Really," she deadpanned. Giving her a pat on the shoulder Kouen turned and went, the first notes of the new piece reverberating the air.

Just as he stepped off the bridge, a dark pink bundle flew past him squealing, "Koujaku-nee!", three handmaidens trailing after it.

Looking in amusement at Kouha nearly knocking over the guzheng in his haste and Koujaku yelping in surprise, Kouen headed for the archives.

At times it was hard to believe Koujaku was Kouha's blood sister, they had completely opposite personalities. Koujaku was calm where Kouha was excited, level-headed where Kouha was rash and impatient; reserved where Kouha is open, introverted where Kouha is extroverted and doubtful where Kouha is quick to trust. Kouha has numerous trusted followers he hand-picked, yet Koujaku keeps no servants close. Her affection for newly-met people are very superficial, yet Kouha becomes genuine friends with them.

When they fight, however, the full-blooded-relation shows itself.

Glinting black blades and flashing red eyes, Koujaku's Glasya-Labolas and Kouha's Leraje complimented each other perfectly, the siblings make a terrifying tag team.

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"Koujaku-sama," said the messenger at her door, head bowed and kneeling.

The princess looked up from her scroll. It was an interesting account of the Kouga Empire. She hoped she had not gotten the streak for history from one of her visions. It was hard to tell nowadays which impulses were her's, inherently, and which were _their's_. It scared her, sometimes, when she looked and saw her brothers in a new light, one a sister shouldn't have.

Suppressing a shudder, she waved at the messenger to keep talking.

"Gyokuen-dono requires your audience along with Kouen-dono," he said. "I have already notified the First Prince."

Koujaku froze.

Gyokuen?

She vaguely remembered a vision where she was eventually bricked into a wall, someone said once, "Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity," and Koujaku rather believed it, since the last face she saw before being bricked in was the smiling face of the lead nun.

And damn Gyokuen-dono smiled a lot. Creepliy too.

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To say the first three princes of Kou did not like their new step-mum was rather an understatement. Kouha outright despised her, having somehow drawn link of the woman's existence with his sister's state. Kouen and Koumei had an inkling of how the Organization worked, and suspected Gyokuen-dono's involvement to a rather large extent. Holed up in their den that's the archive, the two brothers nearly missed the messenger bringing the queen's summon.

_With Koujaku? _thought the brothers simultaneously, even as Kouen rose and dusted off his robes. With a nod to Koumei he was away.

Pinching the bridge of his nose Koumei looked at the heaps of scrolls in front of him, taunting him with the idea of going through all of them. Things just get messier and messier in this messed up house.

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"Ara, aren't you two fast little darlings," Gyokuen positively simpered as her two step-children stepped into her chambers.

A band of masked priests stood in a line near the wall.

Kouen had his perpetual frown, Koujaku's face was a careful blank. She had remembered another vision, she had choked to death, where she was a staring girl and the poor girl's mother led her into the forest with promises of food and killed her. Koujaku had no idea how that applied in Gyokuen-dono's case anyhow.

"Koujaku-chan, I heard you had another episode a few days ago?" asked the queen, brow creased with worry Koujaku and Kouen somehow knew to be false. "Are you alright now, darling? Can you tell me what was it this time?"

"Gyokuen-dono," Koujaku bowed deeply. "I am well. If possible, I would wish not to relive the experience, thank you for your concern, Gyokuen-dono."

"Darling, I told you how many times to just call me 'haha-ue'," Gyokuen chided softly, disconcerting smile still in place.

Unlike Koujaku, Kouen was more straightforward, and his position as First Prince called for a great deal more respect.

"You called us here for something, Gyokuen-dono?" he asked blandly and straight to the point.

The queen made a face that was almost a pout. "Not you too Kouen, I care about my children. All of you. Why would you ever think otherwise?"

He just repeated his question.

The queen sighed and placed a hand to her cheek, as though weary of her son's cold demeanor. "Kouen, I want you to make sure Koujaku-chan is protected from what she had to go through (_she meant the close call with the backstabbing traitor,_ thought Koujaku, _in which I had _just _woken up in time_). And in no condition is she to fight the morning after an episode. I want you to make absolutely sure the party of the Tenzan Plateau know of this."

To any other, she sounded like a caring mother doting on a sickly daughter. However Kouen had sparred with Koujaku, possibly more than other siblings due to Judar's constant interference, so he knewshe wouldn't get woozy once the episode was completely over, and he'll be damned if he let a sibling die of his own incompetence. To Kouen, Gyokuen was just repeating things he would have done with or without her command.

To Koujaku, it hit a nerve. Gyokuen had shown she knew more than she let on. Koujaku certainly never told anyone about the odd quirks she acquires from the visions, since everyone seems to chalk whatever she does oddly to her visions, but how had Gyokuen-dono known the phantom pains she gets in her neck, stomach, and other places that had been punctured, sliced, stabbed, ripped? How had that creepy lady known how she gets funny sometimes, when she washed her hair and looked around for something called a 'hair-drier'? When she scrambled awake in the morning with a head full of _cook eggs bacon sausages, work work shift at 10, study, exams, practice practice practice piano, homework rush rush rush _then jerked to a stop in her bed wondering what the hell was she so worked up about? When she looked at her sword and for a split second had no idea what the hell in the world was she supposed to do with it?

"Ara, ara, I might send you to Sindria someday, or Magnostadt, to see if magic holds a key to your awful condition," Gyokuen continued, now looking at Koujaku, eyes glittering, "Yamuraiha of the Eight Generals of Sindria is quite a sought after magician, and the medical magicians in Magnostadt might do wonders!"

_If it did,_ Koujaku thought bitterly, _you might have mentioned the faceless priests you use to do your daily chores._

"If all you have are suggestions, I think both my sister and I have better places to be," Kouen cut in coldly, eyes never leaving Gyokuen's ever-smiling face.

"Oh! How silly of me," Gyokuen shrilled, jerking upright and clapping her hands together. A priest stepped forwards, holding a tray with a little pouch. "Here," she said, taking the pouch and passing it to Koujaku, who took it with some measure of reluctance, eyes glittering more than ever, "dissolve a pinch of it every night, it will help you sleep, Koujaku-chan, and keep away the nightmares."

When Koujaku looked taken aback, Kouen was staring at her with slightly wide eyes, _what? why didn't we know?_

She pleaded back silently, _I didn't tell her! _and stepped back, behind Kouen, head bowed, face determinedly blank.

She'll never use the powder in the pouch, not until she has someone else examine its contents.

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A week flew by and Koujaku was atop her horse at the palace doors. Hakuei was sorting out last minutes discrepancies, and Kouha was standing with their older siblings, waving goodbye furiously as they rode out. Behind them followed the full Northern Station Corps, a section of the Western Subjugation Army.

For this expedition, First Princess Hakuei is in charge, with Koujaku as second-in-command. The Emperor also dispatched a former general, Ryosai, whose position as General Commander of the Northern Station Corps was usurped to be replaced by Hakuei.

In Koujaku's eyes, Ryosai was too power-hungry to ever be a good general.

At any rate, their goal was to conquer as much of the Tenzan Plateau as possible in the year given to them. Koujaku was due to leave in a month for Balbadd as representative of the Kou Empire, since the Eighth Princess Kougyoku was still inexperienced with political matters. (As to her views on the arranged marriage, she just hoped, for her sister's sake, Abhmad was a handsome, dashing young man with a good heart, for Kougyoku deserved nothing less.) Then she is to report to Kouen at the heart of the Empire, and return to the Northern Station Corps, which by then would have stationed itself in the Northern Tenzan Plateau.

The journey to the Plateau was largely uneventful, except maybe the third night where Seisyun had to forcefully stop a smiling Hakuei who was insisting she cook. Koujaku had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing, watching the pale haired young attendant dragging Hakuei away from the pot with the cook looking on completely bemused.

On their fifth night, they set camp on a cliff at the borders of their own land, overlooking the vast grasslands beneath.

The first morning of leading the army for invasion saw Koujaku in her tent putting her hair up into its hairdo. It was negotiation day, so she settled for a more formal one — two braids from her temple, pulled along with half her hair, twisted into a bun held with an elaborate golden hairpin only for Kou royalty, the remaining left loose. As she says, invaders should show their best to the invaded.

"Koujaku-sama," said her handmaiden, "it's time."

She cast a weary glance at the pouch Gyokuen had given her, sitting innocently on the bedside table. Then with a hum Koujaku slipped in the hairpin, twirled her long fringe, checked her bracelet and sword were both present, and gestured for her servant to follow her out of the tent.

"Reporting," she said to Hakuei as she lifted the cloth and entered the tent. "Seisyun," she dipped her head in acknowledgement as the young attendant gave her a smile.

"Good morning, Koujaku-chan, how was your sleep?" replied her sister with a smile. "No nightmares?"

"None last night," Koujaku sighed, waving off her servant. "Can we move out soon?"

"Yes," this time it was Seisyun who answered, "the troops are ready to move out at a moment's notice. Hakuei-sama?"

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"As I thought, the Kou Army cleaved through these villages like a knife through butter. They were no match for the mighty Kou Army!" said Ryosai gleefully, "we should split our vanguard and advance in different directions! Koujaku-hime here can lead one and I can lead the other while—" But he was cut off before he could finish.

"No," said Hakuei forcefully, "We will not split the army until Koujaku-san is finished with her other business, and that is a few months away at best. I will not leave my sister to lead an army when she is due to leave in a week, nor will I give you the authority over a section of the vanguard, no matter how small. We will settle this with negotiations, there will be no further discussion on this matter."

With a tsk Ryosai stormed out of the tent, glaring spitefully over his shoulder.

When she was sure the former general was gone, Koujaku spoke up, "That was hardly necessary, Hakuei-nee. Ryosai only had the best interests of the empire in mind."

"Perhaps, but do not play the devil's advocate with me, Koujaku-chan," Hakuei's eyes flashed dangerously, but it had no effect on Koujaku. "You know Ryosai just wants the power to overthrow me." With a sigh she placed the back of her hand to her forehead. "I must make them listen to me somehow, establish my position and authority."

"Perhaps you ought to lead them in an actual assault," Koujaku suggested. The only times they had charged a village they were lead by Koujaku, the other by Ryosai, with Hakuei yet to step into the shoes of an in-field commander. "Maybe they see your ideals of peace as weakness and cowardice."

Hakuei flinched. "But—!"

"I know you mean well, all those who knows you knows you mean well, but the soldiers don't," Koujaku pressed on. Hakuei-nee was a peace loving person, she wouldn't draw sword to a rabid wolf if she believed cooing would get her out of the situation. "You are a daughter of the previous Emperor, but these soldiers are under my father. They have yet to see you in battle, and that may be why they believe you are all bark and no bite."

Hakuei frowned.

"Seisyun and me's the only ones who's seen the capabilities of your power," Koujaku supplied.

The blacked-haired princess strode to the map laid out on the table. Bending over it, she frowned deeper.

"The Kouga tribe is next, and I'm not invading them," she said firmly. Looking up at her sister who shrugged, ("Hey I'm only Second-in-Command,"), she said, "Maybe the next one," tapping a location on the map.

"At any rate I will not be around for the next potential invasion, I'll be gone for at least two months," Koujaku peered at the map, "By then you should have a quarter of the Plateau covered, if all goes well."

Hakuei nodded. Then she patted Koujaku on the head and smiled, "We set out for the Kouga tribe tomorrow. Go and rest, imouto, sweet dreams."

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**(1) - **the guzheng player can use his left hand for pitch-bending and or plucking, thus Koujaku was taping on the plectra onto her left hand _after _the initial piece because she didn't use her left hand for the initial piece.

**Opinions? Suggestions? Reviews?**

**Koujaku is older than Hakuei (I changed it, Koujaku used to be younger) but she calls Hakuei 'older sister (nee-san)' because its fun and she never gets to call anyone and it's her way of showing respect to Hakuei who's the First Imperial Princess while she's only Second. It's sort of a private joke between them. Hakuei calls Koujaku 'little sister (imouto)' to humor the latter in her joke. Hope I didn't confuse anybody!**

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_flower_


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Alright folks! New update! I suggest to the old readers to skim over the last two chapters a bit, I've changed some details. (This is still an in-progress work, forgive me! .)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Magi. If I did Sinbad and Kouen would be ****ruling over the world as kings, side by side~ and Judal is good friends with Yunan. ^^**

**Enjoy~!**

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"Seisyun, Ryōsai, Koujaku, ready?" Hakuei tugged on the reins of her horse.

"Ready, you don't have to keep asking," said Koujaku, adjusting her bracelet.

"Ready, Hakuei-sama," said Seisyun.

"We should at least be armed, why aren't we armed?" Ryōsai demanded.

"The rest of us are plenty armed with our metal vessels. Not our fault you never conquered a dungeon," Koujaku supplied coldly. "Hakuei-nee, let's head out." She snapped the reins of her horse and rode out.

There was a flurry of thudding hoves behind her and soon they fell into formation: Hakuei first, as the commander, then Seisyun, her personal servant, then Koujaku, second-in-command, and finally Ryōsai, who looked most unhappy with his standing.

It was a mostly silent ride, until they reached the edges of the Kouga settlement.

"Whoa, what is that?" Koujaku pointed to a horse galloping with a bundle of blue in front of them.

There was a faint cry of help.

"Might it be a child caught in the harness?" Seisyun tiled his head and narrowed his eyes, trying to see, but Hakuei had already spurred her horse into a gallop.

"Must be," said Koujaku, as Hakuei lifted the bundle of blue—turned out it was a young boy—and a male of the Kouga tribe caught and calmed the frantic horse.

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"I am the third daughter of the first emperor of Kou, Ren Hakuei," said Hakuei, hands fixed in the traditional greeting as the other three stood bowing behind her. "I have come to engage in diplomatic talks with you."

"Welcome, esteemed princess," said the clan head, a tottering little old lady with a long grey braid and a staff. What looked to be the entire tribe stood behind her. "I am the granddaughter of the 155th great king of the Kouga Clan. I am called Shaman Chagan."

"I am aware," said Hakuei, giving a deep bow. "The Kouga Clan was once the most prosperous equestrian tribe in the world. The first great king of the Kouga Clan supposedly had powers rivalling a demon's, and built the largest nation known to man: the Great Kouga Empire."

Hakuei straightened and continued, "In recent years, the Kouga Clan has weakened and has even being targeted by slave hunters. But today, the suffering is at an end. Please come under our empire!"

Murmurs of disagreement came from the gathered tribe. Koujaku eyed them warily. The males were all armed with broad blades.

"We aspire to unify the land, from Reim in the west to Partevia in the southwest," Hakuei was saying. "Our goal is the unify the whole world. The same as your Kouga ancestors once dreamed of doing. Please lend us your strength!"

The murmurs became shouts, and voice of the male from before could be heard loudly from the escalating cries. Koujaku was just about to step in and suggest they carry on this conversation elsewhere when the shaman turned and hollered, "Quiet!"

"Esteemed daughter, do not be so impatient," the shaman turned back to the first imperial princess.

_The other option is we storm your place, _thought Koujaku. _We're being very patient._

"Excuse me," said a sweet voice, and they turned to find a smiling girl holding a tray of plates. "I've prepared some horse milk spirits, would you like continue this conversation inside?"

Hakuei smiled, relaxing. "Thank you."

Then several things happened, very fast.

Ryōsai made a lunge for the Kouga girl, and Koujaku stepped up, flicking her wrist. A rod materialised, smacking Ryōsai in the stomach, sending him reeling backwards. The rod disappeared as fast as it appeared, and Hakuei blinked in surprise.

Koujaku sent a sweeping look around the tribe and noted that no one seemed to have reacted to Ryōsai's attempt at sabotage. A few Kouga men reached uncertainly for their knives, but that was no threat, as far as she could tell.

She smiled warmly at the girl who just seemed puzzled.

"Thank you. Where do you suggest we take this?"

"The shaman tent," and she turned to lead the way.

Hakuei and Seisyun followed with puzzled glances in Koujaku's direction, and the shaman and her two bodyguards glanced at Ryōsai with suspicion. But nothing had some to blows yet, and that's a good sign.

When Koujaku passed Ryōsai, she let out a hiss, "I'm watching you."

It was cozy inside the tent, though judging by the look on Ryōsai's face he's going to let slip some snarky comment on the interior design. Koujaku fingered her bracelet, just in case.

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The talk went well, much better than it would have if Ryōsai had been the one handling the situation, or if he had succeeded in pushing the nice girl who had given them the drink. All prejudices aside, horse milk spirits were actually tasty.

Hakuei had been able to establish—gently—the fact that the lands of the Northern Plateau was already, be all means, the Kou empire's, and all she needed was their consent to bring its inhabitants under Kou's rule. Of course, the shaman had been adamant that the tribe remain free people, and the two spent a good half of the time bantering back and forth about borders and rights.

Halfway through the talk the smiling girl who offered them the drinks bowed her way out.

Well at the end neither side got what they wanted, so they parted on neutral terms and the people of Kou withdrew.

When they left the tent, however, the little boy clad in blue garments signature of countries in the west ran up to them, the flute around his neck flaring gold. He stopped in their midst and stared right at Koujaku, who was the last to leave.

The princess paused, and bent down to his level with a smile, "Hello there, what's your name?" and patted the turban on his head.

"Ugo says to be careful," the boy suddenly spoke, in all seriousness. "He says that you are special, and there are bad guys after you."

Koujaku blinked. Bad guys? Ugo? She looked quizzically down at the little boy, but he already had a bright smile on his face.

"I'm Aladdin! What's onee-san called?"

"I'm Koujaku, nice to meet you," then Hakuei tapped her shoulder and Koujaku stood, ruffling Aladdin's hair. "Bye bye."

Aladdin looked after the Kou princess as she ascended her horse and rode away with her companions. She was different from the nice black-haired lady he met. She was pretty, and her hair was a vivid shade of pink…what was the name…magenta! Rukh fluttered around her, uneasy and wary and strange. They flitted about eccentrically, as though they had no idea where they were going, all the while cocooning the princess who was Koujaku.

Ugo said she had a 'condition' that was caused by someone, like aftershocks after an earthquake. He said because 'they' could not get the original one, the earthquake, so 'they' settled for her, the afterquake. He said to warn her, that 'they' are after her, because she was special, as special as the person before her, and Aladdin asked who was the 'before'. Ugo did not answer.

Who were 'they'? Who's the 'original'? Who was he? So many questions, so little answers.

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"Why did you stop me? We had the perfect opportunity to get rid of those Kouga people. How could you let that slip away?" Ryōsai demanded at Koujaku, who sat at the side of Hakuei's tent, filing her fingernails, the definition of apathy.

Hakuei hid a smile. She had mostly worked out what happened back with the girl with the milk tray, and was rather glad of Koujaku's quick reflexes, or who would've know what could have happened? The Kouga men were all armed, they might have come to blows, and if that happened, they might as well have charged in with the full vanguard that morning.

Seisyun stood together with Koujaku at the side, wisely staying silent.

Ryōsai looked about to demand again when Hakuei cut in, "The Kouga Clan are the future citizens of the Kou Empire. We must not seek to eradicate our own, must we? We have to come up with the best strategy."

"Maa, nee-san, you're starting to sound like me," Koujaku drawled at the same time Seisyun bowed with clasped fists, "I believe that is for the best."

"I'll come up with something ere morning," Hakuei stood. "You're dismissed."

Ryōsai tsked, looked about ready to spit, but bowed stiffly and left. Seisyun bowed once more, and left too.

"Don't stay up too late," said Koujaku as she, as well, disappeared out the tent flap.

Once they were all gone, Hakuei went deeper into her camp, where the paperwork was kept.

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The next morning, the imperial sisters were up at the crack of dawn. Koujaku went to direct her party for patrol, Hakuei to smooth out the last vestiges of her plan with Seisyun and Ryōsai.

Koujaku was just calling a change of shifts when a frantic neighing sounded, and the next moment the horse in question streaked past them, its rider prone on its back, with an arrow sticking out.

"Wha—?" Koujaku's horse reared up as she turned it abruptly around, back in the direction of the main camp. "Carry on patrolling but double the guards! Shima, take command until I come back!"

_An attack? _she thought as she raced after the loose horse back to camp.

Overtaking it, she pulled the reins of her own horse to block the rogue's way, and grabbed its reins.

A minute later the commotion was resolved, and Koujaku leapt off her horse. She cut away the soldier's harness and pulled him off the horse.

"Dead," she pronounced as she felt his pulse. She pulled out the arrow stuck to his back, and examined its shaft and tip, and started to frown.

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"Are you sure?" Hakuei banged the desk as she shot up and out of her chair.

"Eh," said the soldier who knelt in from of her table, raising the arrow as though to prove his point. "We've confirmed it numerous times. There can be no doubt. It seems the Kouga clan attacked them while they were patrolling."

"It's just like I told you," Ryōsai said in a sneery voice as he took the Kouga arrow and snapped it in half. "There's no longer any need for diplomacy. We should just wipe them off the face of the earth."

Hakuei levelled a cool gaze at Ryōsai. "I will go to their village."

"What?"

"I have to find out. We need to know if they truly loosed arrows against our army." She turned to leave.

Ryōsai slammed his hand on the desk, rattling the teapot. Koujaku straightened from her slouch at the side of the tent, eyes trained on the former commander. Hakuei stopped.

"I won't just let you do whatever you please! Even if you are a princess, you're only the previous emperor's only have this position because of the benevolence of the current emperor. And he has given me the task of watching over you. I won't overlook your selfish actions."

"Then I will go there on personal business," answered the first princess, not turning around.

"Hakuei-dono," he warned.

Hakuei turned to face him fully. "Ruling through force only leads to eventual reprisal. To truly capture the hearts of men with a beautiful ideal, that is a most noble pursuit."

Ryōsai sighed dramatically. "It looks like there's nothing I can do to stop you. However, the command of the army falls to me in your absence. Is that fine with you?"

There was a beat of silence as Hakuei stared at him with a weird look.

"Unfortunately, you seem to have forgotten this daughter of the _current _emperor," Koujaku spoke up, eyes glinting dangerously, "who is Second-in-Command. Therefore, logistically speaking, the command of the army falls to me, in the absence of the general."

With this domestic matter solved, Hakuei turned. "We are going, Seisyun."

"Hai."

Ryōsai looked as if he had swallowed something large and hairy.

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Back in his tent, his little world of solitude, Ryōsai spit bitterly onto the ground.

"What are you going to do, Ryōsai-sama?" asked a soldier.

"We thought Koujaku-dono would have left before this," said another soldier, worriedly.

"Do we still proceed with the plan?" asked a third soldier.

"Shut up," Ryōsai snarled, "I'm getting that army no matter what."

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**AN: Annnnd that's the next instalment, what'll Ryōsai do? Please review and tell me what you guys think!**

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_**flower**_


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I'm so sorry guys, life ate me up, it just regurgitated me. On a happier note, 10 reviews for three chapters, damn, I love you guys! Here's an update for all my stories! Deviates a bit from canon events...**

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Koujaku took one look at her messy desk overflowing with papers and scrolls and ink spills and dried cups, and gave up trying to organise it. It was a telltale sign to how unorganised a person she was, since she had only set up the desk three days ago. Koujaku sat down and picked up the cleanest envelope on top of her mess.

She opened it, then frowned over message that had just arrived for her. She was to make Balbadd 'habitable' for Kou atop the marriage negotiations? Sheesh, Kouen sure liked to boss people around. But she's been to Balbadd before. That 'pig king', as Judal affectionately dubbed the stout man, was easily won over with the very little effort.

She was contemplating the best strategy when a tentative voice said from the tent entrance, "Koujaku-hime-sama? Y-your tea is here."

"Tea?" she looked up as a servant girl came in with a tray of tea. "Did I call for tea?"

The servant girl immediately started to quiver, her tray clattering, "D-didn't princess a-a-ask for tea a w-while ago?"

"I did?" she mused with a shrug, then watched closely as the servant girl placed the tray down on a side table and poured a cup of clear tea.

"What type of tea is this?" Koujaku asked suddenly, watching the clear liquid fill three quarters of the cup.

The poor servant girl let out a terrified '"eep!" and nearly spilled tea all over her documents as she held up the teapot.

The girl backed into her corner after the tea was served. Koujaku took a cup and sipped the tea as the servant girl made a noise. Of protest? Of approval? Of neutral answer? She couldn't tell. Ah well.

The tea was sweet, like the girl added too much honey. But Koujaku shrugged it off, it was the downside of always changing servants, not that she minded.

Holding the cup afloat, Koujaku returned her attention to the letter, but her eyelids began to feel heavy, and when her vision doubled and even as she snapped her head up, she felt forced sleep weigh down her eyelids. Before the drug took over, she managed to lay a hand on her metal vessel.

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Rei was the name of the servant girl, recently selected by a passing white-masked priest for the princess's endless rotation of servants, and she hadn't expected the princess to slump over, spilling the contents of her cup over the documents.

It was with growing fear and confusion that Rei watched the princess succumb to what must have been sedatives in the tea. Rei might have been raised in an orphanage, but she still knew about those things. After all, she had been given a crash course on them when she was picked to be the next batch of servants.

Then Rei's hands began to shake, the fullness of her actions hitting her. The tea was passed to her by another staff, she had no idea. Some days prior, she had overheard the other general speaking of a revolt, a plot to kill a princess, but being a servant she kept her mouth shut. Now the first princess was away, and the second princess was asleep, maybe even dead, because of her, oh dear god—

"What have I done?" Rei whispered hoarsely.

And so Rei stood, shivering and confused, for a while.

Soon she heard a commotion outside, horses neighing and people shouting, then the din of stampeding hoofs, but Rei stayed in the tent. She bit her lip. The tea from the spilled cup had soaked through a pile of papers, and was still spreading steadily.

Rei bit her lip at the mess on the princess's table, then swallowing timidly, set to work organising it the best she could. Somehow, she thought that if_—when—_the princess wakes up and sees the table organised, Rei might be spared from her fury.

A few minutes later, there was a rustling sound from the entrance and the man who gave her the poison entered the tent, saw the sleeping princess, and smiled crookedly.

"Good work," he gave Rei a pat on her back, which nearly knocked her over. He strode over to the princess, a menacing shadow, and placed a hand on his sword. Rei retreated to a corner of the tent.

The princess's metal vessel began to glow.

The man pulled out his sword and raised it high above his head, poised to cut, to kill.

Without thinking Rei grabbed the teapot, and threw it with all her might at the man.

It missed, that goes without saying, but it got his attention.

"What," sneered the man, not lowering his sword, "did the traitor change her mind? You won't get anything from saving the royal trash, young lady."

Rei had no idea what the pulsating light emitting from the princess's metal vessel meant, but she had a gut feeling she shouldn't let the man see it.

"I…" she began, but her mouth was dry, so she kept swallowed what she was going to say, and stood silent.

The man looked at Rei incredulously, then began to laugh, "Stupid servant." He stuck his sword into the ground and leaned on it. "The moment you poured that tea you had stuck your hand in the coup d'etat, young lady. Besides, what did this fickle princess ever do you for you? Did she treat you nicely? Did you provide you with anything? You'll just be shoved aside in a couple of months for a new batch of servants, what's the point of trying t'be loyal?"

Rei couldn't answer. She just wanted to do her job.

The light from the metal vessel pulsed quicker.

"See? The princess did nothing for you. Let me tell you, all you're going to become when she switches servants is trash that nobody wants on the streets. You'll have no job, no money, no place to stay, nothing. She demands your loyalty for those short months you work for her, then she kicks you aside like a rag doll," the man started to wave his hands in the air to emphasize his point. "I was her subordinate once. Then she ordered my execution because I dropped her teacup. Ryōsai-dono rescued me. . But Ryōsai-dono will change that, he'll change everything! At this moment the army is heading to execute the First Princess. You should—"

Then there was a wet snick, and Rei never got to know what she should do.

Princess Koujaku stood with her black blade in hand, eyeing the beheaded man with disdain.

"I ordered your execution because the royal family does not need rats like you," the blade disappeared into her bracelet. "Proof? You made me waste a lot of magoi."

Rei touched the spray of blood on her robes, shocked.

"Hey you," the princess turned to her, awake once more. "What happened?"

Rei started to shiver. If she answered wrongly, would she end up like that man? Should she answer? Should she keep quiet? Should she tell about her unwilling part in this? Would she be killed for it?

The princess gave her a piercing look before striding outside the tent.

There was a period of silence where Rei's heart hammered in her chest, and the princess came back into the tent, face tight.

"What's your name?" Koujaku asked briskly.

"R-Rei, your highness!" Rei stuttered.

"I'm going to let what happened slide, if you tell me where's Hakuei-chan," the princess said. "And Ryōsai. And where the entire army went."

Rei swallowed.

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"You'd better be glad I had Glasya-Labolas," Koujaku said, pale as a ghost. "Or you'd be charged with mass murder."

Rei nodded quickly.

"Okay, Rei-san, you take that man's sword and stay at camp, just in case. Don't leave my tent, stab anyone that comes through. It's an order."

Rei nodded again.

"Partial Djinn Equip!" Koujaku's legs shone a bright light, and the robes on her lower body morphed into black and gold armor. "I'll leave the camp in your care until I come back, and if I find so much as a thing out of place, it won't just be the man's head rolling on the floor!"

Koujaku poured the power of her djinn into her leg armour, and breezed out of the tent without waiting for the servant's frightened 'eep!'.

Glasya-Labolas was the Djinn of Judicial Bloodshed and Knowledge. It's power was control over the timeline of the object its wielder was in contact with and with the passive ability of warping the space around the object, and Koujaku thanked her lucky stars she got such a djinn when she saw a Paimon-shaped tornado explode into existence on the far horizon.

The Djinn Equip was a shortcut to the contact rule, granting Koujaku control over the timeline of herself and anything her Equip was in contact with. She pulled on her magoi reserves, and wound her timeline forwards, speeding up her pace. Of course, the ability consumed magoi, and that little stunt with the servant had caused the Djinn to activate the power himself and spin her time to awakeness.

The issue of magoi wasn't pressing, but the issue of tampering with time had its downsides. While the opposite, rewinding time, was a possibility, it was taxing and required more magoi than winding up time. Time ultimately bounced back to its proper state at any rate, so anything she does has a efficient period of a day, and that was it with the enhanced effects.

Koujaku streaked across the fields, a blur of black and gold, knowing that she had probably chewed off a week of her life and that she was going to pay for the magoi consumption later, she tried to go faster, because the tornadoes that came in streaks had died out. That either meant Hakuei had ran out of magoi or she was dead, and Koujaku refused to go there.

Dungeon Capturer or not, Hakuei couldn't win against an entire army. She simply wasn't cut out for it.

And suddenly the scene was in view.

The entire legion was there, up on the hill, bows taunt in the hand of the archers.

But Hakuei herself was still a speck, down on the plains below the hills, surrounded by little dancing figures and glinting swords. The pale dot of Seisyun danced in a frenzy, but it wasn't enough.

Even as Koujaku sped towards the commotion, her legs starting to burn with the excertion, time boost or no, she saw the little arrows that was getting bigger by the second soar into the air, only to be buffeted away from the fighting below by a gust of strong wind.

Koukaju prayed the First Princess would survive until she was in range. _Oh Hakuei-chan, you're too soft, too soft!_

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"Capture her!" Ryosai shouted gleefully, swinging his sword. "Bring her down to grovel on her knees!"

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"Hakuei-dono!" Seisyun whirled, trying to be in two places at once. Sadly, however much range Sougetsuken granted him, he never received the power to duplicate, or teleport.

Two soldiers caught hold of Hakuei the moment her Equip failed her and dragged her in front of Ryōsai.

"Hmph," Ryōsai strode over, hands clasped behind his back, an impossibly smug look in his face. "It's come to this because a little girl who can't ambush meddles in war affairs…how powerless, dungeon capturer!"

Another thump signalled the fall of Seisyun.

_I cannot die here! _Hakuei thought furiously_. _An image of her little brother swam to the forefront of her mind.

As though in reply, Ryōsai's oily voice made her choke. "Don't worry, Hakuei-dono. I'll make sure he goes along with you. I'll kill your precious little brother too!"

Hakuei's vision narrowed to Ryōsai's smirking face, and she felt unbridled rage rise in her throat.

With a roar, she twisted free of her captives and grabbed the sword of the soldier next to her, swinging it up to slice the bloody traitor in half.

The clang of metal on metal cleared her mind a little, but the edges of her vision still seethed with red.

"It's all good," Ryōsai roared, "we'll settle this with a duel!"

"I was hoping for that also," she snarled, immediately taking in his stance and reigning in her fury, a controlled rage that still smothered in her eyes.

Then a stabbing pain exploded in her arm, leg, and shoulder blade.

Wha—

Ryōsai tipped his head back and bellowed with laughter. "Stupid bitch! You actually believed me!"

Slumped on the ground, aching and defeated, Hakuei wondered if this was as far as she got. She hoped her siblings went further than her. She hoped Koujaku went on to her next assignment smoothly. She hoped Hakuryuu lived a long and satisfied life. She hoped—

The First Princess squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the killing blow.

One which never came.

A forced whirled around her, plucking out the arrows and healing her wounds the same moment a big blue palm swatted Ryōsai away like fly. The soldiers scattered in shouts of fright and Hakuei caught a glint of gold and black and she looked up to see Koujaku standing over her, along with the boy from last night riding a headless blue giant. Ryōsai's form lay a distance away, legs twisted in an unnatural and no doubt painful position.

"I could see Paimon a mile away," Koujaku let out a grumble as her leg armour from a partial djinn equip faded. She leaned in to inspect the wounds she had hurriedly healed through a reversal of time. "Let me guess, Ryōsai betrayed the royal family." Before Hakuei could answer, the second princess stepped over to where Ryōsai lay prostrate and tugged him by his legs back to Hakuei.

"Up," she kicked his back, forcing him into a kneeling position facing Hakuei. "Apologize."

He glanced up, eyes full of fury, and spit at her feet. "You should be dead."

Koujaku smiled, and flicked her wrist. The black blade of Glasya-Labolas materialized, twisting her bracelet into the shape-shifting weapon wielded by the Djinn. It had no hilt, just a handle made of the same material. "It's great that I'm not, then, yes?"

"Ryōsai, senincho of the Western Subjugation Army, sentenced to death in the name of the Second Princess, Ren Koujaku," she placed the tip of her blade at his throat, "executed." And she swung the blade down.

The shout of "No!" from Aladdin came a fraction of a second too late, and Ryōsai's head was already rolling on the ground.

Behind Koujaku, the soldiers shuddered.

"I gave him a chance," Koujaku said by way of explanation when Aladdin scrabbled over to stare horrified, at Ryōsai's swaying headless body. "Now," the princess turned to the mass of soldiers with a smile, deliberately continuing to morph the shape of her weapon from one blood-letting instrument to the next. "Those in league with the headless, please step forwards."

One perk of having a shape-shifting weapon of Glasya-Labolas, was that the more blood she ran upon the blade, the sharper it becomes and it increases in volume.

Mutely, the soldiers looked at each other. A stalemate ensued.

"Or should I start with purging the upper ranks?" Koujaku flicked her wrist, the weapon changing this time into a long, thin needle of metal that curved and snapped in the air around her.

"Nee-san," Hakuei struggled into a standing position, while Aladdin scrambled over to where Seisyun lay. "Don't force yourself. You've done enough."

"I've already used a lot of magoi, what's a little more?"

Then a soldier threw himself onto his knees. "I speak for the rest! We acknowledge our betrayal to the royal family! We will accept any kind of punishment!"

Koujaku smiled wider.

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**AN: And that concludes the Kouga Arc! Did it seem rushed? I'm not that great at describing people...**

**Drop a review if you liked it! The next updates should come smoother now that this arc is over...or not, since I'm stepping into the Great Rift of three years that the manga skipped...**

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**_~flower_**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Okay, so, canon matters first: I'm aware that in the Prototype manga of Magi, the bowl-cut general (Barbossa?) has Glasya-Labolas as his Djinn, of madness or something along the line, and I must say that's closer to the lore of demonology than my Glasya-Labolas, so the question is, do I change the name of Koujaku's djinn to another demon, or do I keep it as GL? It'll show readers that I wrote this in the first few chapters of Prototype if I keep GL, that's for sure…but I'll leave the decision up to you people~. You can either post a review stating your opinion, or vote in the poll on my page. I've placed the poll already, and some people seemed to have done it before I said anything~! It's not a bad thing, it tells me my profile page is visited, so don't worry, if you were one of the culprits. **

**I've also changed the abilities a tiny bit, so if anyone feels too lazy to read up those little details from the previous chapters, I'll make a summary of the whole thing and place it on my page in a bit, so no worries there. Just check my page when I give the clear.**

**Also, I seemed to have lost all the documents on this story in the site archives. Oops.**

**Happy reading!**

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"No!" Hakuei placed a hand on Koujaku's shoulder as the latter's blade quivered in the air, ready to cut the grovelling soldier in half. "No more bloodshed, nee-san."

With a frown Koujaku snapped her blade back into the form of a bracelet, and gave the army a withering glare.

The blue giant from Aladdin's flute hasn't gone, and he glowered without his face at the remaining soldiers. Aladdin himself stood with his wooden staff beside Seisyun, helping the attendant stand.

"Back to camp, all of you!" Koujaku shouted to the mass, "Any and all stragglers will become pin cushions!"

Hakuei sighed from her position on the ground, but the soldiers scrambled into action, spurring their horses into action and lifting the injured, and the first princess relaxed. Koujaku's methods were harsh and sometimes unreasonable, but they worked.

Seisyun descended in a mother-hen fashion on Hakuei, fussing about her wounds that were still pink and muttering worriedly. Hakuei insisted she was fine, and looked to the boy instead.

"If I may ask," she sneaked a look to the blue giant, who was swinging his hands behind the retreating soldiers like a shepherd to a flock of tired brown sheep, "who exactly are you?"

Koujaku stepped over and placed a hand on Seisyun's head, who began to glow a bit. She fixed a piercing look on the boy.

"I am…" Aladdin glanced to the blue giant, uncertain, gripping his staff hard. Then he took a deep breath and said clearly, "a magi."

Hakuei blinked, mind leaping to Judar. Koujaku raised an eyebrow, thinking of Judar's kohl and red eyeshadow, then to the appearances of magi throughout history that Kouen had drilled into her at their younger ages. There was something off here, the sisters both decided. What was a magi doing out on these remote lands?

Then Hakuei's fan began to glow, and so did Koujaku's bracelet.

"Ah!" Aladdin's eyes widened. "What are those?"

Hakuei withdrew her fan. "It's my metal vessel. It contains a djinn. So's Koujaku-nee's bracelet."

Koujaku unclasped her bracelet, letting the metal sit in her palm. "Do you know why they're glowing? I certainly hope Glasya-Labolas isn't playing a trick and trying to age me into an old lady."

Aladdin once again looked to his giant companion, who was now sitting in lotus position, and scratched his head. Then he turned and approached Hakuei's fan, reaching out a hand to touch. "Maybe if I do this…"

His finger connected with the hilt of the feathered fan.

There was a small explosion of light and wind.

"I am the Djinn of Maniacal Love and Chaos," a disembodied voice boomed across the battlefield as storm clouds gathered, blocking out the sun and the wind whipped up a vicious onslaught, "who is the one that shall be king? …though I already am on a contract." The mist that sprayed from Hakuei's fan solidified into a huge blue giant, though its body was still vapor beneath the legs. "Oh well! Is everyone doing fine?"

As the wind settled and the sun emerged, the soldiers froze in terror as they stared up at the huge figure of Paimon, the 9th Djinn of Solomon. Adorned in gold accessories and chains, Paimon was a beautiful lady with a voluptuous body and pointed ears. She reared up in the face of her shocked audience and announced with a wild smile, "I am Paimon, a Djinn made by King Solomon from maniacal love and chaos, and thou art my queen, Ren Hakuei!"

"Impressive," Koujaku commented, clasping her bracelet back onto her wrist.

"Your's too, onee-san!" Aladdin scampered over and touched a finger to the bracelet. Koujaku jerked her hand back, but it was too late.

There was another small explosion, this time merely of light and black smoke.

"Oooh," said a voice as a black wing extended out of the smoke and flapped once, hard. "It's not that your bracelet is too small for me, my queen, it's just that having my wings _latched_ up all the time is taxing." As the smoke cleared there was a laugh, deep and rumbling, and Glasya-Labolas spread his arms and boomed, "I am Glasya-Labolas, 25th of the Household of Solomon, the Djinn of Judicial Bloodshed and Knowledge!" He spread his wings wide, each feather silhouetted clearly against the sun, and announced, "Ren Koujaku is my queen!"

"Whoa…" Aladdin breathed, staring up at the two djinns that seemed to fill up the sky. Then he whipped around, braid flying, "Ugo-kun! I've found your friends!"

The blue giant bounced up to them, and the two djinn, who were just eyeing each other with some degree of awkwardness, jumped.

"Uwah, I got to see someone special this time!" Paimon said, slightly nervous, "I wonder what day it is?"

Glasya-Labolas flapped his wings uncertainly, "Hello Ugo-sama, to what honor is it that I meet you today…?"

Then Paimon froze, a devious look crossing her face.

Glasya-Labolas reeled away immediately with a beat of his wings, Ugo backed up.

She pouted. "Oh come on, I'm not that scary."

"That look and those nails certainly say otherwise," Glasya-Labolas flew to a safe height.

What happened next could only be described as bewildering. A series of interactions between the three Djinn and not a word was uttered. When they turned back to their respective owners, all sported a grim look. Well, Ugo seemed to have a grim look.

"So there are unusual happenings in the world, that I understand," Paimon drifted to Hakuei's height. "But I don't care what happens to the world. I have chosen Hakuei, and will give her the power to become King. It is what I am made for, and what I shall do. The outside world is of no concern to me."

"I have chosen my King Candidate," Glasya-Labolas said, hovering above Koujaku. "I do not care about the happenings of the outside world. It is not in my place to interfere. I will help Koujaku become King, and that is all I will do."

"If I may ask, Paimon-san, Glasya-Labolas-san," Aladdin piped up as Ugo retreated into his flute, "I am a 'magi'. What is a 'magi'? What should I do now?"

They seemed taken aback. Glasya-Labolas landed on the ground, folding his wings, "It is not in our place as Djinns fashioned from the Rukh of Solomon to command a 'magi' such as you."

"Follow the great flow of Rukh," said Paimon, smiling kindly, "Let it guide you."

Aladdin looked from one Djinn to the next.

"I heard that a 'magi' chooses a 'King Candidate', like you…?"

"Ah, then you get the gist," Glasya-Labolas came over and kneeled, his jewelry jingling. "A magi chooses a king candidate for the djinn, and the djinn then choses the candidate to support as his 'king'."

"Have you chosen a king before, esteemed magi?" Paimon asked.

After a pause, Aladdin's eyes widened. "Yes, I have!"

"Then there you go," Glasya-Labolas smiled as he walked back to Koujaku's side, dissolving back into her bracelet. "You have chosen your king."

"But of course," Paimon smiled devilishly as she, too, melted into Hakuei's fan, her voice becoming an echo, "It's not a life commitment, not for you. Our magi has chosen at least a dozen!"

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That evening, as the sun set and Hakuei and company mounted their horses and made to leave, Hakuei addressed the blue-haired magi one last time, "Are you sure you don't want to meet my kingdom's magi?"

"No," replied the child, "I'll return to where I came from and look for my friends and my chosen king," he smiled. "It was nice meeting you. I hope we meet again."

The princesses looked at each other, seeming to have a conversation with just a look.

"Where are you planning to go?" asked Hakuei, turning to the boy.

"The town of Qishan," Aladdin replied.

They exchanged another look. Hakuei seemed to plead with her eyes, and Koujaku seemed to be denying all responsibility.

Eventually the red-haired princes sighed. "Aladdin-kun, I'm going to Balbadd, and the town of Qishan is along the way. Would you like to travel with me?" Beside her Hakuei beamed.

Aladdin stared, wide-eyed. "I can?"

"Yes. If you wish to travel with me, I would not mind. A young boy alone on a long journey across the world is hardly wise. Of course, you could always join one of the trade caravans, but it'll be slower for you. What do you say?"

"Yes!" he beamed.

"I trust you know where our base is?" Koujaku indicated to the west. Aladdin nodded. "Be there at first light tomorrow. If you miss my company then it's your loss."

"I won't!" the boy promised. "I'll definitely be there!"

Hakuei smiled warmly. "See you then, Aladdin-kun."

Reins snapped, horses neighed, and the Kou company rode off into the sunset. Against the orange of the setting sun, Koujaku's hair blazed like fire.

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**AN: Okay. So. First things first. This will be a secondary project for me, as [Color of Grey] would come first. Do not expect frequent**** updates for this story, but do not worry, it'll still get updated. I'm just a little frayed in the corners for this story. It's hard to come up with a plausible fictitious-storyline for the very-well-written Magi without seeming like I'm abusing the power of fanfiction authorship too much. That, and Koujaku really is a hard character to work with. 'Write what you know', I've always been told, yet how am I to know about an ancient Chinese princess? *sigh* (I do play the zither.)**

**Secondly, a great big thank you to all those who reviewed! I can happily claim that the concept for this story is entirely from my head, no outside influences, and that I have not seen anybody else with this concept (I'm not spoiling the concept in this note [that's beginning to get rather long], because it'll come out in the story eventually!), but if _you_ do, dear reader, please drop a review!**

**Also, as a last note, this IS NOT THE END. I will see this through to its finish, no matter how long it's going to take. I'm very aware the manga had gone so far with the story that by the time I reach it, it'll probably be 2100...**

**If anyone wants to be the racket that I'll be bouncing off idea-squash balls with, please do drop me a PM or leave a review! And I've got to say, this story has gotten more review-per-chapter than my other, more mainstream, fic. Goes to show unique ideas pay off, huh?**

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_**~flower**_


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I'd like to thank everyone who voted on the poll, GL's staying! This chapter is more of a narrative, but it's important. Think.**

**Disclaimer, obvi. I don't own _Magi_, and not even Koujaku's name. **

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The sun's red rays pierced the stifling darkness of night like a pin through cloth. Koujaku blew out the candles in her tent and drew open the flap, letting the morning breeze circulate the tent's stale air. With a sharp click of her bracelet slotting into place on her wrist, she slotted her musings away together with her doubts and fixed her hair in front of the travel vanity. There's bags under her eyes again, and after she traced her eyes in dark red ochre, she covered the eye bags with a concealer.

She hadn't slept well. Nightmares of falling rocks and thunderous winds had kept her from rest, and she occupied her time with examining her Metal Vessel and going over as much paperwork as possible.

One last tug of her travel robes fixed her image, and she exited the tent.

Outside, the royal attendants were organizing the procession that'll carry the Second Princess to Balbadd. They had been up before dawn, cleaning the caravan, brushing down the horses, stacking boxes and clearing tents, and when Koujaku stepped out, a team immediately went inside to clear up and pack her belongings.

As for the princess, she went to her sister's tent.

"Hakuei?" the redhead lifted the flap of the tent and peered in. "Awake?"

Lighting inside the tent was sparse, but Koujaku recognized Seisyun's white hair. He was busying himself with organizing the First Princess's paperwork. It made several impressively tall stacks on her worktable and for just a second Koujaku felt guilty about going away. Her leave meant all her work went to Hakuei, and trying to conquer through treaties and agreements didn't make for the lightest of bureaucratic work.

A part of the reason Kouen and his vassals liked to conquer by violence. A head off a shoulder, a flag toppled, a table-full of paper work averted. Clean and simple.

But Hakuei wasn't Kouen, and Koujaku wasn't working with Kouen this time.

"Oh, Koujaku-hime!" Seisyun paused in his straightening of papers and gave a low bow. "I'm afraid Hakuei-sama is very tired from yesterday's exertion. She is not yet awake."

"Not a problem. I came to check if she's okay. How's her wounds?"

Glasya-Labolas reversed time only temporarily. Yesterday's wounds might be temporarily undone, but overnight the magic would've worn off as time caught up and the wounds reopened.

"I cleaned and dressed them, Koujaku-hime, and had the doctor take a look," Seisyun bobbed his head and gestured to Hakuei. "They've been disinfected and Hakuei-sama slept soundly."

"Thank you," Koujaku withdrew from the tent. That was all she needed to know. Hakuei knew she was leaving today, so there was no need for Seisyun to pass on that particular bit of information. If the First Princess forgot, the lack of her sister's tent would cue her in. And then a thought registered in Koujaku's mind, and she popped her head in the tent again.

Seisyun was systematically straightening the tea set.

"Did that boy turn up?"

Seisyun placed the cover over a dragon-patterned teapot, then shook his head regretfully.

"If he did, esteemed princess, I did not see him."

Koujaku nodded, lowering the tent's entrance flap.

And flipped it open again, sticking her head in once more with a grin.

"When Hakuei wakes up, give her my greetings."

Without waiting for a surprised Seisyun to reply, she drew out and shut the tent for the final time.

Whistling a tune from one of her memories, Koujaku strode away with a spring in her step, wandering towards the servants preparing the trip.

She had no retainers, no hoard of personal servants, no vassals. The people that were preparing the trip were randomly chosen from the royal household. The princess suspected not many of them had even seen an Imperial Family member before they were switched to this trip.

The procession consisted of ten horses and two servant caravans-horses for the guards and caravans for servants. They were aiming for speed and anonymity. There was only need for one royal caravan, and only one stood in the strengthening light of post-dawn.

It was the size of a command tent with delicately carved imagery on its wooden framework, as was all royal carriages. Styled slightly different from the Western carriages, this one was like an enlarged palanquin. Wood was in place the cloth covers of normal merchant caravans, with arches for doorways, covered by bamboo blinds. Yet even this was a subdued version of the one ridden by the Emperor and Empress and his advisors.

(It wasn't carried by people, though Koumei was considering changing that fact to a. manage the overwhelming amount of slaves [one could only have so many in a household. they did have to be fed, after all] and b. show off their wealth.

Hakuei shot it down. It was inhumane, even for slaves. And what Hakuei said, Kouen agreed. It was a small matter after all, and Kouen really didn't want Hakuei angry at him over trivial matters.)

Drawn by horses, it was large enough for a bed to fit, and fit a bed they did.

The bed had several uses.

On long trips, Koujaku normally sat on the bed (or even slept) to disguise her condition. It wasn't a well known fact, and the imperial family explained it away as an illness.

Her appearance certainly enforced that train of thought. Koujaku's mother was a vicious beauty during her days of glory, and while surprisingly Kouha inherited her soft edges and their father's looks, Koujaku was the one who took after the mother, all sharp edges and pale skin.

Supposedly a trait of beauty, Koujaku's pale skin was no such thing for her. On bad days it was a clammy, sickly shade of pale; on good days, almost translucent in their quality. More often than not, it teetered her on the edge of looking underfed.

Which, of course, was not a possible situation for a member of the Imperial Family to be in.

Another use was to show to the world the determination of the Kou Imperial Family.

Kouha came up with the idea when Koujaku begged their father to let her out of the palace, which was something along the lines of "look at the poor lady she's so sick she needs to stay in bed, but she still goes out for official business-for the Empire!"

Back then, Koujaku didn't care. She was just glad she could finally be of some use to the family.

Presently she had a quick word with the head of the caravan, asked around for the little boy, received no confirmations, and wandered away to the edge of camp.

She liked the Tenzen Plateau. She liked it even better when it was cloudless, as it was today.

The vastness of the sky would always be the same no matter which vision she experienced. That endless blue, that merciful constant in her hurricane of a life, will always calm her.

Sometimes there're clouds. Sometimes there aren't clouds, but the sky in each vision stays always a copy of each other-

That's not a cloud. ...Is that a _flying carpet_?

While she stood stunned, the black speck half a mile in the air drew close, and revealed itself to be indeed a flying carpet, carrying the little blue-haired boy of yesterday.

As he flew closer, he spotted Koujaku and began to wave frantically from his perch. The smile on his face could've turned night to day.

(Koujaku has her speculations on the shade of that hair and that winning smile. She thinks she'll tease Sinbad about it next time they meet: did he sleep with an albino and sire a bastard child?)

Koujaku smiled slightly and waved back. Despite her agreement to let the boy ride to Qishan with her, she was decidedly neutral to his presence in camp.

He touched down, pulling the carpet with him. A swish, and the cloth was a bundle on top of his head, secured by a jeweled brooch.

"Hello and good morning, onee-san!" He chirped, lively as bird, a hand on his flute, the other gripping tightly onto his knobbly staff.

"'Morning. Glad you made it in time," she reached forwards and patted the turbaned head. "Camp is back that way."

"Aren't you coming, onee-san?" He asked.

Koujaku waved a hand in the air. "I'll be there in a moment."

He looked at her a few seconds more, then smiled and ran off to the servants, who looked delighted to have a child in their midst.

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The caravan set off while the sky was still a delicate shade of pink-white. Morning was properly approaching, and a knock on her carriage door had the servant allowed to travel with her rush to open it.

Outside was a rider holding a packaged breakfast.

Koujaku was initially supposed to leave at noon, after she had finished her breakfast and morning duties, but she personally requested that they leave at daybreak, to make the most of their three-month traveling limit.

Thus, breakfast was reduced to a simple matter served on the way, as with all other meals, when they couldn't afford to stop and cook.

Receiving the package from her servant with a nod and a light smile, Koujaku didn't mind.

She believed anything to be better than Hakuei's concoctions. Breakfast was a small thing, and as there weren't any growing boys (_ahem_ Kouha _ahem_) around, the staff and a select few (_ahem_ her _ahem_) allowed Hakuei free reign in the kitchen.

Hakuei wasn't bad, really. It was just a sad twist of fate that anything she cooks became a mess of pot crust. Edible? Almost. Tasty? ..."it's a required taste," Koujaku would say, forcing a smile, and hope her phrasing doesn't egg Hakuei to feed her more.

Before the caravan set off that morning, Hakuei had managed to come out from her tent to bade them bon voyage, all bandaged up.

And insisted Koujaku let the boy- Aladdin -ride in her carriage. Quite adamant.

With a grumble and slight reluctance, Koujaku allowed it.

And thus was her current predicament on the low table beside the carriage bed: her breakfast in its steamy goodness in front of her, the boy's blue orbs shining with viscous tears a tabletop away. That somehow managed to not overflow.

(It was nowhere as adorable a puppy face as Kouha's.)

Koujaku wondered if he had breakfast before he left the Kouga clan grounds.

Surely, they would? Or was this boy just a glutton?

With a defeated huff, Koujaku pushed the packaged food in his direction.

A squeal, blue eyes curved into elated crescents, little hands clapping together in bliss.

Koujaku tugged on a stray strand of hair, shrugged.

"You're so kind, onee-san! I thought at first that you were so scary," he began to speak while stuffing his face, chopsticks clumsy but effective, and Koujaku winced silently. "When I asked Hakuei-nee about you because I was curious at how the soldiers seemed more afraid of you then Ugo-kun and that was surprising and despite you barely saying anything that time at the tent and then again on the field so I asked Hakuei-nee about you and she said," he took a gulp of breath past his food, and while he didn't spill anything, Koujaku's fingers twitched behind her long sleeves. Aladdin giggled then, almost choked, before wolfing down his mouthful to continue talking, "she said that you are really nice but you have that effect on people and you can be harsh at times but deep down you're good and kind and warm and," he took a break to smile, huge and bright, a fleck of rice on the corner of his mouth, "she's right, because you let me have all of your breakfast! Even Alibaba only gives me half!"

He slurped on the sauce. "Can we be friends?"

Koujaku's hidden fingers stopped miming the notes of her current piece.

She tilted her head quizzically and chose to ignore the question. "Didn't the Kouga feed you?" she asked, gesturing to the manner at which he gobbled down her breakfast.

"Oh," he bobbed his head, extracting the chopsticks from their current position in his mouth. "They did! But I woke up late and I flew on the carpet all the way here and used up all my magoi so I got really hungry." He patted his stomach.

"My magoi originates from the stomach, you see," he continued, placing down his chopsticks and sitting back, "so when I use up my magoi I get really hungry really fast."

Koujaku raised a red eyebrow. "Aren't you a magi?"

"Yes?"

"So why would you 'use up' your magoi?" Koujaku drew quotation marks in the air beside her head with delicate fingers.

"Huh?" The boy rocked back in the lotus position, holding his feet, eyes wide and innocent. "How does being a magi mean not running out of magoi?"

Koujaku was silently puzzled. Judar certainly never mentioned running out of magoi. He only seemed more and more fired up whenever he did use magic. Only the court mages did that. Only her siblings and their vassals did that. She had assumed being magi meant a never ending supply of magoi, though damn if she knew why.

She shrugged again, then waved her hand to motion the servant over to clear away the food.

"Within a month we'll be at Qishan," she peered curiously at the boy, "why are you heading there? It's a far place for a kid to go. Most here don't even know of that particular trading post."

"I'm looking for a friend," he immediately replied. "I got separated with him there."

"Separated? So far away?" A red brow, carefully plucked, was raised.

"It's a long story. Would nee-san like to hear?" Another blinding smile.

If smiles could be transformed into magoi, the boy could power a thousand war ships, Koujaku thought, but she said, "We have time. Tell all the stories you want."

The boy practically lit up in excitement. Even his braid received a spasm of his energy, briefly curling up.

Koujaku smiled lightly, and with another wave of her hand the servant drew the curtains around her alienated platform and the boy launched into one of the most animated storytelling Koujaku has seen since Hakuren.

Which, incidentally, only made her smile more.


End file.
